Monthly Archives: September 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 6, 2020

Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra [in the later five hundred years] after [my extinction], will not be attached to clothing, bedding, food or drink, or any other thing for living. What he wishes will not remain unfulfilled. He will be able to obtain the rewards of his merits in his present life.

The Buddha makes this promise to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. When we who are living in this latter age of Degeneration keep and practice this Sūtra, we change the focus of our own existence. We lose our dependence on the things we thought we needed to make us happy, and thus learn to appreciate them for what they are. We set aside our fear of losing these things and gain the courage to handle situations we previously thought were impossible. We stop focusing on what we need to live and find gratitude for what sustains our lives.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Blog

Reviewing the Four Noble Truths

Today I participated in another of the Enkyoji Buddhist Network’s online classes. This one dealt with the Four Noble Truths.

The assignment prior to today’s Zoom class was straightforward:

Please take a critical look at basic translations of the Four Noble Truths you find online and compare them. Informed by your own faith and practice, reinterpret or translate the Four Noble Truths through your own critical lens.

I pretty much ignored that and instead took advantage this website, where, since 2015, I’ve been collecting quotes from books on Buddhism that I read to backstop my memory. Searching “noble truths” returns 81 posts.

Here are the quotes that I offered to fulfill my class assignment.

From Awakening to the Lotus

The first thing the Buddha taught was the Four Noble Truths. Put simply, these are:

  • Life is Suffering
  • There is a cause for Suffering
  • Suffering can be overcome
  • The way to overcome suffering is the Eightfold Path

From Ryusho Kansho Shonin’s Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Our practice includes the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Twelve-Link Chain of Causation, the Six Paramitas, and it is all contained in the Lotus Sutra and the Odaimoku of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. When we strive to live according to the fundamental truths of Buddhism and follow the teachings in the Lotus Sutra by chanting the sutra and the Odaimoku, we create a life that manifests our inherent Buddha potential and allows us to live a life of indestructible happiness.

From The Beginnings of Buddhism:

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of Suffering. Birth is suffering; old age is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering; meeting people one hates is suffering; parting from people one loves is suffering; failing to get what one wants is suffering. In other words, all five aggregates of the body and mind, which have attachments to things and to people, and of the environment are suffering. This is the Noble Truth of Suffering.

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering. Craving – for sensual pleasure, continued existence, and annihilation; for happiness in all places, accompanied by joy and covetousness – which leads to rebirth, is the basic cause and reason for suffering. And this is the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering.

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering. The Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering is the total elimination of craving, abandoning it entirely, being liberated from it, and no longer having any attachments.

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of the Path to the Extinction of Suffering. The Eightfold Noble Path – right view, right thinking, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right memory, and right meditation – is the Noble Truth of the Path to the Extinction of Suffering.” (Page 33-34)

From Lotus Seeds:

Right View is fully understanding life as revealed by the Four Noble Truths.

Right Intention is thinking clearly without the distortion of greed, hatred, or delusion. We are sincere and do not harbor ulterior motives.

Right Speech is the avoidance of deceit, gossip, slander, and other forms of verbal abuse and dishonesty. Instead, we speak only to benefit others and to reveal the truth.

Right Action is conducting oneself in an ethical manner and acting to benefit others. We refrain from killing, stealing, sexual deception or exploitation, and other activities harmful to ourselves and to others.

Right Livelihood is making a living without harming or exploiting others. Right livelihood precludes such activities as dealing in armaments, drug dealing, fraud, insider trading and any other means of living that involves the exploitation or harming of others. In other words, our work should be in accord with the rest of the Eightfold Path.

Right Effort is making every effort to develop good habits while curbing our bad habits.

Right Mindfulness is developing an ongoing awareness of all aspects of our life, including our physical condition and actions, our feelings, moods, ideas, our general enviroument, and our relations with others. Through such careful attention we are able to see more deeply into the true nature of our lives.

Right Concentration is making every effort to develop our Buddhist practice in order to acquire tranquility, insight into the true nature of life, and liberation from false views.

From Open Your Eyes by Ryuei Shonin

In Treatise on protecting the Nation, Nichiren provides citations from various sūtras to justify this time scheme of the five periods. These five flavors or periods were then made to correspond to certain analogies used in the sūtras. One analogy comes from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and relates the teachings to milk and its products – cream, curds, butter, and clarified butter. …

[The second period] The Deer Park – for the next twelve years beginning with the Deer Park discourse, the Buddha exclusively taught the tripiṭaka doctrine for the śrāvakas. At this stage the Buddha taught the four noble truths and the twelvefold chain of dependent origination in order to free people from worldly attachments and to overcome self-centeredness.

From Lotus Seeds:

Of the Four Higher Worlds – voice­ hearers, privately awakened ones, bodhisattvas, and buddhas – voice­ hearers is the world as viewed from the perspective of the Four Noble Truths: suffering, the cause of suffering, freedom from suffering, and the way to eliminate suffering. Those who live in this state of mind look to the Buddha for insight and guidance, and strive to free themselves from the Six Lower Worlds.

From Introduction to the Lotus Sutra:

The First Noble Truth is, “All is suffering.” Suffering here refers to the situation in which we cannot meet our desires or wishes. This truth implies that all life is suffering as long as we are dominated by greed, ignorance of the law, and hostility towards others. Our desires can never be fully satisfied.

The Second Noble Truth states, “The cause of sufferings is ignorance.” This means that suffering in life is caused by ignorance arising from our instincts, such as thirst, hunger, sex, and fear.

The Third Noble Truth states, “The extinction of ignorance is nirvana.” The sravakas took this to mean that ignorance could be extinguished only by quenching human desires.

The Fourth Noble Truth maintains, “The Way to Nirvana is by practicing the Eightfold Path.” The Eightfold Path consists of (1) right views (a correct understanding of the Four Noble Truths), (2) right thoughts (the ability to reflect on the Four Truths), (3) right speech (speaking only the truth and words of kindness), (4) right deeds (proper acts—that is, morality), (5) right livelihood (making a living without harming others), (6) right effort (or exertion), (7) right memory (memory of things beneficial to enlightenment), and (8) right concentration of mind (correct meditation).

From Basic Buddhist Concepts:

Buddhism begins with a direct examination of suffering, which figures prominently in most basic Buddhist teachings. For instance, one of the most fundamental of Buddhist doctrines is the four seals of the Law – suffering, impermanence, absence of a permanent self, and nirvana. The first of the Four Noble Truths is that birth is suffering, and in the Twelve-linked Chain of Dependent Origination, the final link, aging and death, is described as lamentable and pitiable suffering. Because of the numerous mentions of suffering in the most ancient scriptures, some people criticize Buddhism as pessimistic or argue that it is too otherworldly and aloof from the affairs of everyday life. But to overcome suffering is the purpose of all religions. The ultimate goal of Buddhism, too, is to conquer suffering, transcend the cycle of transmigrations, and attain the tranquility called nirvana.

Again from Basic Buddhist Concepts:

Put to use in everyday life, the Eightfold Path can enhance health, keep people on the proper moral and ethical road, increase efficiency at work, establish a correct view of the world and humankind, and cultivate wisdom. But Mahayana Buddhism rejected sole reliance on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as insufficient for its goal, which is to work diligently not only for personal enlightenment but also for the improvement of one’s fellow human beings and all society. Though Mahayana followers recognized the value of the Hinayana truths and principles of action for self-improvement, they decried the absence of altruistic ideals. In the stead of the solitary arhat, they adopted the ideal of the bodhisattva, whose first consideration is the benefit and happiness of other beings. The Eightfold Path, which cannot serve as a complete teaching for bodhisattvas, was replaced with the Six Perfections as the model for religious action.

Again from Basic Buddhist Concepts:

No more permanent than any other aspect of the world, suffering can be converted into happiness. But seeking the reason for suffering’s existence is the necessary first step toward achieving this transformation. Only by examining the causal relationship giving rise to sorrows is it possible to discover a logical way to eliminate them. Shakyamuni did precisely this. The second of the Four Noble Truths gives the cause of suffering as craving. (The Twelve-linked Chain of Dependent Origination … is a more detailed explanation of the cause of suffering.) The third and fourth Noble Truths enunciate the way to eliminate suffering, testifying to a state in which suffering is extinct and teaching the Eightfold Path as the way to reach that state. Thus we see the close interrelation of the seals of the Law, the Four Noble Truths, and the law of dependent origination.

From The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism

Sui-hsin-hsing Wei (Position of the practice following faith) is the first of the Seven Saintly Positions. The name of this position Sui-hsin-hsing (Skt., śraddhānusārin) is derived from the person with dull faculties (Ch., Tun-ken; Skt., mṛdvindriya). He enters the Path of Vision (Ch., Ju Chien-tao; Skt., niyāmāvakramapa) by his belief in what he is told by others, but not by his own intellect.

Sui-fa-hsing Wei (Position of the practice following the Dharma) is the second of the Seven Saintly Positions. In opposite to the above one, the person with relatively sharp faculties (Ch., Li-ken; Skt., t̄kyṣṇēndriya) achieves this position Sui-fa-hsing (Skt., dharmānusārin), because he enters the Path through his own contemplation of the Four Noble Truths. The first and this second position are at the initial stage of religious path and are referred to as the “Path of Vision” (Ch., Chien-tao; Skt., darśanamārga) (which entails no practice). (Vol. 2, Page 202-203)

From Nizen Nijō Bosatsu Fu-sabutsu Ji, Never-Attaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles and Bodhisattvas in the Pre-Lotus Sūtras, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 221-222

It is stated in the Discourse on the Diamond Scalpel by Grand Master Dengyō:

“The truth that motivates the bodhisattvas to take the Four Great Vows is the Four Noble Truths (the truth regarding the suffering, the cause of suffering, the extinction of suffering, and the path to enlightenment). Delusion of life and death that everything in the universe (3,000 Existences in the 100 Realms) repeats is the truth that life is full of suffering. Realizing in mind and body that this delusion of life and death is itself enlightenment is called the ‘vow to save all the people.’

From Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 36

How then can it be denied that something wonderful happens with the Lotus Sūtra? Even a parrot is said to have been reborn in the realm of heavenly beings just by repeating the name of the Four Noble Truths of the Hinayāna teaching. Moreover, a man who dedicated himself to the Three Treasures – the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha – was able to escape the attack of a monster fish in the ocean. Imagine the wonders that would occur with the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, the essence of all the 80,000 teachings, and the eye of all the Buddhas. Do you still hold the belief that you cannot escape the four kinds of evil realms by just chanting the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra?

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month witnessed the heavenly flowers falling over the entire congregation, we witness the Buddha emit a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows.

Thereupon the Buddha emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east, down to the Avchi Hell of each world, and up to the Akanistha Heaven of each world. The congregation saw from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds. They also saw the present Buddhas of those worlds. They also heard the Dharma expounded by those Buddhas. They also saw the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās and upāsikās of those worlds who had already attained [the various fruits of] enlightenment by their various practices. They also saw the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas [of those worlds] who were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith. They also saw the past Buddhas [of those worlds] who had already entered into Parinirvana. They also saw the stupas of the seven treasures which had been erected to enshrine the śarīras of those Buddhas after their Parinirvana.

See The World of Enchantment

LS32, d1b, stories

The World of Enchantment

In Chapter 1 of the Sutra, before the vast assembly, having already preached the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, the Buddha entered deeply into meditative concentration. Then, to prepare the assembly to hear the Buddha preach, various omens suddenly appeared – flowers rained down from the heavens on everyone, the earth trembled and shook, and the Buddha emitted a ray of light from between his eyebrows, lighting up eighteen thousand worlds to the east, so that the whole assembly could see these worlds in great detail, including their heavens and purgatories, all their living beings, and even their past and present buddhas. Surely we are being advised here that we are entering a different world, and a different kind of world, a world that is at once rich in fantasy and at the same time anchored in this world.

Thus the Dharma Flower Sutra opens up and reveals this world as a magical world, a world in which flowers rain down from the heavens, drums sound by themselves, and Shakyamuni Buddha lights up all the worlds with beams of light streaming from between his eyebrows. It is a world in which an illusory castle-city provides a resting place for weary travelers, in which a Stupa emerges from the ground so that an extinct buddha from long ago can praise Shakyamuni for teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra, where the Bodhisattva Wonderful Voice, with his nearly perfect, giant, and radiant body, from another world makes flowers appear on Holy Eagle Peak and then comes through countless millions of worlds with eighty-four thousand other bodhisattvas to visit Shakyamuni Buddha and others, and where the Bodhisattva Universal Sage comes flying through the sky on his white elephant with six tusks to visit and help those in this world.

I call this a world of enchantment. And enchantment, here, means a certain kind of fascination with the ordinary world. It means finding the special, even the supernatural, within the ordinary world of our existence. It means seeing this world itself as different, as special – as important and valuable. And this means that our lives – how we live and what we do – are important, not only for ourselves, but also for the Buddha and for the entire cosmos.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p15-16
d2b, Vasubandhu

The Accomplishment of the Conditions for the Buddha’s Great Intention

Eight statements illustrate the accomplishment of the conditions for the Buddha’s great intention. The meaning of these eight statements should be known. What are they?

  1. [The Tathāgata] wanted to expound the great Dharma.
  2. He wanted to rain down the rain of the great Dharma.
  3. He wanted to beat the drum of the great Dharma.
  4. He wanted to raise the banner of the great Dharma.
  5. He wanted to light the torch of the great Dharma.
  6. He wanted to blow the conch of the great Dharma.
  7. He wanted the drum of the great Dharma to incessantly beat.
  8. He wanted to teach the great Dharma.

These eight statements show that the Tathāgata wanted to teach the great Dharma. Why are these called the eight great intentions? It is because they eliminate the doubts of skeptics, and also because they cause those who have already eliminated their doubts to nourish and fully develop their knowledge body. The Buddha teaches two subtle realms to those with fully developed faculties: The subtle realm of the disciples and the subtle realm of the bodhisattvas.

The two statements referring to the drum of the great Dharma show that it can be heard even at a distance. To enter a subtle realm is to advance to a higher pure truth; to have already advanced to the unsurpassed pure truth is to advance to omniscience and attain direct perception; to have [already] advanced to omniscience and attained direct perception is to establish the meaning of the words and passages for all the Dharma. To have established the meaning of the words and passages is to enter the inexpressible knowledge of realization and to see the wheel of the Dharma in motion.

Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p 109-110
d21b, WONS

The Buddha’s Intent Reflected Upon Clear Mirror of Scriptures

When we think of the Buddha’s intent reflected upon the clear mirror of these scriptures, we see that His appearance in this world was not for the sake of those who heard Him preach the Lotus Sūtra for eight years on Mt. Sacred Eagle. It was for those in the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, and in the Latter Age of Degeneration. More precisely, it was not for the sake of those in the 2,000 years of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, but for those like myself in the beginning of the Latter Age. The “sick ones” refer to the slanderers of the Lotus Sūtra after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha. It was “for those who did not perceive and accept this medicine excellent both in color and flavor” that the Buddha said he would “leave this excellent medicine.”

If we think of it this way, we can see why the bodhisattvas from underground did not appear during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. The 1,000-year Age of the True Dharma was appropriate for Hinayāna and provisional Mahāyāna Buddhism, but not fit for the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra in terms of both the “capacity” of those to be taught and the “time” for it to be preached. Therefore, four ranks of Bodhisattva-teachers (Four Reliances) preached the Hinayāna and provisional Mahāyāna teachings in order for the people to attain Buddhahood by nurturing the seed of Buddhahood that they had received during the lifetime of Śākyamuni Buddha. They did not preach the Lotus Sūtra then because they knew that if they had preached it, many people would have slandered it rendering it impossible to nurture the seed of Buddhahood. The capacity of the people for comprehension then was like that of those who listened to the Buddha preach in the first four of the five periods during His lifetime.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 161

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 5, 2020

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stūpa of treasures: “Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

This declaration comes from Many-Treasures Buddha (Tahō, Prabhutaratna) at the beginning of Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Many-Treasures came from a world far away from this world of conflict when he heard the Buddha giving his highest teaching and appeared in a tower (stūpa) of wonderful treasures to confirm the truth of this teaching. By the Teaching of Equality, he means that all beings can become enlightened through this teaching. By the Great Wisdom, he means that the teaching is the same as the Buddha’s own mind. By the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, he means that to receive this teaching we awaken to our natures to benefit all beings. And by the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas, he means that all Buddhas in all worlds encourage and help those who practice this sūtra.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

At the start of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings’ third chapter, Ten Beneficial Effects, the Bodhisattva Fully Composed asks a question:

“World-honored One! This sutra is beyond thought and word! I earnestly wish that the World-honored One, out of compassion and sympathy for the great assembly, would explain the profound and wondrous matters of this sutra in detail. World-honored One! What is this sutra’s origin, what is its extent, and where does it abide to accordingly possess such immeasurable, inconceivably powerful beneficial effect that it enables all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment?”

The World-honored One then addressed the great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed, saying: “Well done, you of good intent! Well done! It is just like this; it is just as you have said. O you of good intent! I have declared that this sutra is surpassingly profound in depth, and surpassingly deep in truth. Why is this so? Because it enables all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment, because upon hearing it one can intuit all dharmas, and because it greatly benefits all living beings—because of it they will travel the great direct route with no hardships to detain them.

“O you of good intent! You ask, “What is this sutra’s origin, what is its extent, and where does it abide?” You must hear clearly and well! O you of good intent! This sutra originally comes from within the place where buddhas dwell; it encompasses all living beings that have awakened the aspiration for enlightenment; and it abides in any place where bodhisattvas practice. O you of good intent! This sutra has such an origin, such an extent, and such a place where it abides. That is why this sutra can possess such immeasurable, inconceivably powerful beneficial effect and enable all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment.

For the next ten months I will walk through the 10 Beneficial Effects detailed in the final chapter of the sutra.

d1b, d2b, Vasubandhu

Why the Great Assembly Relied on Mañjuśrī

Now why did the Buddha, the Blessed One, manifest this miraculous sign? He did so to explain the great Dharma; he manifested a great sign to explain the reason; he manifested a great sign to teach the Lotus Sutra. The Tathāgata manifested a great marvel in order to explain the words and passages of the incomprehensible meaning of the true Dharma (saddharma) that he had attained.

There are two explanations [for why the great assembly] esteemed and relied on Mañjuśrī. What are these two? 1) Because [Mañjuśrī] had [previously] witnessed these states (dharmas), and 2) because he was removed from the causes and conditions [that affected the great assembly] and had accomplished these states (dharmas) within his mind.

A variety of marvels were revealed in order to show various events. It should be well known that the marks of the events were [the marks of] origination, decay, subsistence, and impermanence. Since Mañjuśrī was able to recall these events, and since he had accomplished his task and the cause and the result were complete, he witnessed these states (dharmas).

There are two tasks that he had accomplished: 1) the accomplishment of merits and 2) the accomplishment of wisdom. “That the cause was complete” means he had accomplished omniscience. There is also another type of cause referred to as the condition. “That the condition was complete” means that the various signs had occurred. “That the result was complete” means that Mañjuśrī would explain the true Dharma (saddharma) [to the assembly]. It should be known that various different buddha lands were revealed in order to show the various differences and distinctions in those lands. “Pure land” means the dwelling place of living beings that have no defilements. Just as it says in the Lotus Sutra,

[The Buddha’s ray of light] illuminated all the eighteen thousand worlds in the east . . . and rendered visible the splendor of all those buddha worlds.

“The tathāgatas were foremost” since all the bodhisattvas and others take refuge in them, and since the tathāgatas are the ones who have attained self-mastery among those in the great assemblies of the [buddha] lands, just as it says in the Lotus Sutra, “And all the buddhas abiding in those lands were seen…”

Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p 107-108
Blog, LS32

Measures of Faith

20200902_myohorengekyo-romanized_insidecover
Each PostIt arrow represents one complete recitation the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku
20200902_myohorengekyo-romanized-cover
The cover of Myohorengekyo Romanized is beginning to show wear from my daily handling.

Today marks one of those artificial milestones meant to measure progress along a linear path. On this blog, it would be distance traveled in a 500 yojanas journey to a place of treasures. I have now recited the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku 64 times since March 2015. There’s no real value to having reached this milestone.

Each morning I pick up Mohorengekyo Romanized and recite that day’s portion of the sutra. The eight fascicles of the sutra are divided into four parts, rendering the sutra’s 28 chapters in 32 parts.  I mark my place in the book with a PostIt Note arrow and at the end of the cycle I tape the arrow in the inside cover of my Myohorengekyo Romanized book. When I complete a row of 16 cycles – an arbitrary number that corresponds to the number of arrows that fit in a column – I dutifully comment on the occasion:

While I feel compelled to mark this milestone, I do not believe I’m on a linear journey. Having progressed this far along this path I’ve come to understand the importance of the moment – the 3000 realms in a single thought moment, the constant arising and perishing of each instant.

What I want to come back to today is that moment of faith, the step along this 500 yojanas journey. Yes, there was a first step, but each moment is another step, a confirmation of faith in the path of the One Vehicle leading to supreme perfect enlightenment.

For the past few weeks I’ve been participating in the Enkyoji Buddhist Network’s Online Class. One of the lessons concerned the topic of Faith, Practice and Study. My answer to a question about faith fits well with this discussion of moments:

In Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra we learn of the wise physician whose children have poisoned themselves while he was away on business. Some of these children are worse off than others. Seeing their plight the father creates a medicine to cure them. This medicine is guaranteed to look appealing, smell appetizing and taste delicious. Some of the children take the medicine immediately and are cured instantly. The other children, those so badly poisoned that they have lost their right minds, refuse to take the medicine. These children see that the medicine looks appealing and agree that it smells appetizing, but these children refuse to believe that it will taste delicious. These children lack fatih.

Faith is required in order to practice Buddhism. Faith is the initial step that begins the journey, the key that unlocks the gate leading to the path. We are not expected to blindly step off a cliff and have faith that gravity will disappear. Instead, we are asked to believe that the medicine left behind by the Eternal Buddha not only looks and smells great, but tastes good as well. Having faith, we begin our practice and as we continue our practice we validate and deepen our faith.

Each moment of faith, equal and unique, rising over and over.